The problem isn't screens, it's social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Twitter, for example, has basically become the biggest porn site on the internet, a desperate move to get teenagers to use it. Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook operate like the far west. They allow harassment, bullying, racism, etc, and ignore user reports, amplify lies, conspiracy theories, and anything controversial enough to grab attention. Facebook splits up families and friends. Instagram distorts reality. TikTok is a brainwashing machine.
Most of the people I meet at events who work at these companies have strict no screen policies for their own kids because they know exactly how damaging these apps are.
The founders of these companies and their investors (mostly big banks) are sociopaths. They use algorithms to manipulate people and lack empathy and remorse. And the programmers building those algorithms are like digital drug dealers. They know what they're doing is harmful, they know parents are angry, but as long as they don't have to face the people affected and the money keeps coming in, they look the other way.
So my advice: delete these apps, and let them watch Netflix, YouTube Kids and play games. That stuff's fine. It's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and all that junk you need to keep them away from.
We must remember this not only when it produces papers we disagree with, but - perhaps more importantly - when it flatters our preconceptions. Agreement is not immunity from bias.
The field remains trapped in a reproducibility crisis. This result, like those before it, stands to be unreproducible, if scrutiny even comes. Until then, the weight we should assign it should be zero.
Down votes = confirmation bias
That said, it's not devoid of value. The issue comes when we treat it like a hard science. If instead we approached it more like sociology and anthropology, things would make a bit more sense.
I’m of the opinion there’s very little (not nothing) wrong with social media, and a whole lot wrong with people. Kids are just seeing how fucked up humans are earlier than we did and they realize early on they’re trapped in this shitbox with us.
But yes, let’s blame class warfare and rampant corruption on social media. That’ll fix it, lads.
(Side note: fuck cal newport)
There might be a huge political bias in the experts opinion that might be motivated to push an agenda.
Also it might be tempting for them to shout for the wolf as it will make them appear like "savior" of kids and "acting to change the world" instead of just saying "nothing to see there".
My personal opinion is that all their results are circumstantial and might easily be a huge case of cause and correlation being mixed up.
For example, in many countries educated people are reluctant to make kids. Is it due to depression due to smartphone/social network or that the world currently is fucked up and going worse day after day?
Sure, in 1984 kind of countries like north Korea or China where information is tightly controlled to only be positive, people might look to be less depressed, but then it is the story of "Brave new world"...
me_smith•7mo ago
mixmastamyk•7mo ago
Screen time is your friend. Also I started teaching how computers, later internet work at age 7-10. Then teach safety and how to use tools like firefox and ublock etc.
Hold off on smartphone as long as possible, it will be a constant fight. We didn’t have any help from the school, only undermining, but looks to be changing.
me_smith•7mo ago
jeppebemad•7mo ago
We tell him it’s not good for him, which is why we limit it. He occasionally complaints, but most of the time he is looking forward to the 30 mins, and will close the iPad on his own when the timer ends. Consistency is key.
Second advice is to not give them authority over what to watch. No YouTube. Spend some time curating what will be acceptable. In the first few years (we started allowing it when he was 3) they will watch anything. Just stay of the dopamine stuff!
It helps that we never have the tv on when they are awake. Break your own bad habits first - but that’s general parenting advice…
Good luck to us all!
me_smith•7mo ago
jeppebemad•7mo ago
We have (in Denmark) a lot of shows on our public broadcasting network DR, and similar for NRK (the Norwegian counterpart) that are meant for toddlers, many of which share these traits:
- Slow, meaning long scenes without cuts. - Calm speaker narrating something happening in simple words and with repetition. - Babies like to watch other babies, and toddlers other toddlers.
Go for older shows (90s, 2000s). Once they watch newer stuff which has a faster pace, it’s hard to get them to watch the oldies.
Once they get older (5+), I would recommend Stillwater on Apple TV.
mquander•7mo ago
- "Screen time" is not a natural category. You can watch TV, listen to music, read, socialize, make things, educate yourself, and play games using many kinds of screens and non-screens. Use your common sense to think about how much time is reasonable to do any specific activity. Decide what you think and then enforce it.
- Everything in moderation. Rarely was someone worse off because they did something they enjoyed for half an hour a day.
- Your kid is going to want to imitate you. If you personally aren't happy with how you spend your time, then fix it, and your fixing will do double duty.
- The fundamental question is how you want to balance giving your kid time to do the stuff they enjoy, versus doing stuff that you think educates them, expands their horizons, or otherwise builds character somehow.
whoamii•7mo ago
MisterTea•7mo ago
The key takeaway is they sped a lot of time with their kids, discipline them, give them chores on a schedule and they are allowed to explore hobbies. My friends are social people and invite neighbors to parties they host which brings the neighborhood kids together. They spend time with family, who also have kids, and go on small trips like a car ride upstate or amusement park for a day. This constant interaction keeps them occupied with real world activities and socialization which builds their self worth and place in life.
Idle kids are bored kids and that boredom is a vacuum easily filled by screens.
me_smith•7mo ago
We just learned that several couples on our block will be having kids around the same time, so we are trying to initiate an annual block party during National Night Out to hopefully kick start the habit of building relationships with others in our neighborhood.